Tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMSs) for vehicles are known in the prior art. A TPMS provides monitoring of tire inflation levels in all four tires of a vehicle, and a typical TPMS makes the tire inflation data available to the driver. A sensor/transmitter unit mounted on each wheel rim periodically transmits a sensor signal that conveys tire pressure information at a specified frequency to a receiver mounted elsewhere onboard the vehicle. The sensor/transmitter unit is a combination of an air pressure sensor and a radio frequency (RF) transmitter that encodes data in a manner suitable for RF broadcasting. The receiver, which is usually located in the passenger compartment, can be integrated with (or connected to) an in-dash TPMS display that alerts the driver if tire pressure is too low.
A tire pressure sensor for a TPMS may be ignorant of its deployed fore-aft location. Accordingly, a TPMS may perform a learning routine that enables the TPMS to determine, for each received tire pressure signal, the location of the originated tire pressure sensor signal. As a result of the learning routine, the TPMS can determine whether a received tire pressure signal was transmitted by the left front sensor, the left rear sensor, the right front sensor, or the right rear sensor. Some vehicles require a manual learning routine that must be performed at the manufacturing plant (before the initial deployment of the vehicle). This involves putting the TPMS into the learning mode, and thereafter removing air from each tire to initiate transmission by the sensor. Unfortunately, this manual learning routine must also be performed (by a mechanic, the operator, the owner, etc.) whenever the tires are replaced or rotated.